Mortgage Issue Still Dogs Murphy A Week Later

U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy had hoped to put to rest questions about a 2007 foreclosure lawsuit over missed mortgage payments on his Cheshire home, but a week later questions linger, and his campaign has decided against releasing documents containing relevant financial details.

Murphy gave reporters some answers at a Sept. 7 political event, after Courant disclosures about the 2007 foreclosure action by Chase Home Finance, and about a 2003 lawsuit by his landlord over nonpayment of rent at a Southington apartment.

Both of those past actions were withdrawn quickly after Murphy paid his debts. However, the issue has been slowto subside.

Murphy said a week ago that he and his then-fiance and now wife, Cathy, were merging their finances at the time and, in a mix-up, were unaware that they were falling months behind on their Chase mortgage. He said he paid the debt as soon as he learned he was behind.

Murphy said he did not remember how many payments he missed — and he hasn't elaborated on that answer since. Murphy and his campaign spokesman, Ben Marter, have said it was "a couple," or "several," or "a few," or "a handful," but never provided a number.

Marter was asked in an emailFriday if he would at least say that Murphy had missed less than half a year's payments — six, in other words — but he did not respond. The campaign also did not respond to a Courant request to interview Murphy on the issue.

Linda McMahon's campaign spokesman has claimed since last week that Murphy received a "sweetheart" deal from Webster Bank in 2008 when it rolled an existing second mortgage into a new $43,000 home equity line of credit at a 4.99 percent rate. The McMahon campaign has called on Murphy to release his loan documents, including his application. Friday, the Murphy campaign still would not release those documents, and McMahon campaign has continued to hammer away at the issue.

Murphy and Webster Bank have both denied there was any special treatment.

Among the details still unknown publicly are: the number of monthly payments Murphy missed leading to the 2007 foreclosure action; how much money he was in arrears by; and whether he was keeping up with payments on a concurrent Webster Bank second mortgage.

When emailed these and other questions Thursday, Marter did not give specific answers but sent this response:

"When Chris and Cathy were starting out, they were in the process of merging their finances and missed mortgage payments. They paid them in full after they found out about them, unlike wrestling tycoon Linda McMahon who gambled on risky tax shelters and stunts, then filed for bankruptcy to avoid paying her creditors. McMahon spent millions trumpeting lies about Dick Blumenthal and now she's doing the same thing to try and smear Chris Murphy.

"McMahon's attacks have been repeatedly discredited by financial experts and newspapers around the state. The Hartford Courant said that 'there is no evidence' to support McMahon's charges and financial experts told the Connecticut Post that the 'evidence does not support her allegations.' Her attacks are baseless lies solely designed to distract from her record of firing workers while taking $10 million in tax breaks that were supposed to be used to create jobs and denying her workers healthcare and disability benefits, despite the fact that they were risking their lives for WWE's profits."

Webster Bank, for its part, has made lengthy public statements insisting that Murphy received no special treatment.

Its representatives say that they have reviewed Murphy's loan and that he was not given special consideration, and in particular that the 2008 home-equity line of credit at 4.99 percent was a market rate for applicants with the Murphys' credit worthiness.

Data provided by the bank show that the best rate advertised by Webster at the time was 3.99 percent (although some clients were offered even better terms) — but that rate required a line of credit of at least $50,000, according to bank records, and the Murphys' line was for $43,000. At that amount, the bank's best rate was 4.49 percent.

That rate, however, included two more requirements: a top credit score, and total loans and credit lines that did not exceed 80 percent of the value of the house. Webster officials confirmed one of those conditions: that the line did not put the Murphys over a loan-to-value ratio of 80 percent.

Bank officials say they are barred by law from revealing the credit score used in the Murphys' application. Murphy, through a spokesman, has declined to say what the number was.

But whatever marks were on Murphy's credit from the missed payments and lawsuits, a Webster official said that at the time of the loan, the bank's underwriting policy when considering joint applications from married couples was to consider the credit score for the more-creditworthy spouse.